1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to construction materials and more particularly to exterior, water-shedding construction materials that provides a flexible radiant barrier.
2. Description of the Related Art
Roofs and siding, which form the outer covering of a building or house, are subject to high temperatures in the summer that increase heat inside the house and significantly increase the costs of cooling the interior space. In many cases, a layer of insulation is provided on the floor of the attic. However, such insulation tends to be expensive, bulky, limited to the available attic or wall space, and may be ineffective in preventing the high temperatures that build up in the attic from radiating into the upper portions or sides of a, building or house. Moreover, such insulation is completely ineffective for lowering the attic temperatures, and may even cause the attic temperatures to increase by trapping the heat therein. Higher attic temperatures dramatically increase the likelihood of heat radiating into the house, while existing roof constructions tend to increase the temperature of houses in the summer, in the winter, the roofs are a significant source of heat loss.
Roofing construction for homes or buildings may generally be comprised of decking, which may include sheets of plywood, oriented strand board (OSB), and the like, which are nailed or otherwise fastened to structural members such as rafters and beams that define the roof of the structure. The decking forms a substrate onto which water-shedding materials, such as tar paper, also called felt, shingles, slate and metal, may be added to complete the roof.
The above-described roofing structure in itself provides inadequate insulation. Insulative materials have been provided to the exterior and interior sides of the decking, such as polystyrene boards with insulating materials mounted thereon, but installation of such materials increases construction cost and the materials themselves tend to be expensive and bulky to handle. As described in the below-listed patents, oriented strand board decking itself has been insulated by various means. Heat reflective layers have been provided with oriented strand board decking, however, this type of material tends to be expensive to manufacture. Moreover, when replacing roofs, in order to install oriented strand board having heat reflective materials thereon, it is necessary to first replace the entire non-insulated decking in order to obtain the benefits of insulated decking, thereby greatly increasing the cost of roof replacement.
The following patents address the above discussed problems:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,909, issued Apr. 27, 1982, to Raymond F. Slavik, discloses an insulation material having relatively high moisture permeability, which includes an inner sheet of expanded polystyrene of substantial thickness, with an attached layer of impermeable krafl aluminum foil outer layer, having the paper side facing the polystyrene. Perforations are formed in the outer layer, preferably with a roller having a inner cylinder, an outer shell covering the cylinder with a plurality of holes therein corresponding to a predetermined pattern, and tacks having a pointed end or spike and a head end for the forming of perforations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,814, issued Aug. 3, 1993, to Robert Hageman, discloses a decking and sheathing material for roofing, which includes a rigid sheet of plywood or oriented strand board with a reflective layer of foil material adhered thereto. The roof decking is deployed atop rafters in a typical roof structure, with the reflective surface facing inward and exposed to the interior of the structure. A machine for applying the foil material to sheets of plywood includes a conveyer belt table for conveying plywood sheets in succession, an adhesive roller for uniformly applying a layer of adhesive to a surface of each plywood sheet and a roller for pressing the foil material onto the adhesive-coated surface from a supply roll.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,495, issued Jun. 26, 2001, to Wilson et al., discloses a product, and method for production, comprised of a radiant barrier material adhered to a rigid substrate, which enables trapped excess moisture to be transported from the product to the surrounding atmosphere while maintaining its effective radiant barrier properties. A plurality of apertures, which extend substantially completely through both the radiant barrier material and the adhesive material, are formed so as to maintain the surface area of the radiant barrier.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,280, issued Sep. 11, 2001, to Fahmy et al., discloses a flame retardant composite sheathing including a core layer, having a plurality of superposed layers of a water-resistant paperboard adhered together by layers of an adhesive positioned intermediate and contacting adjacent said layers of water-resistant paperboard, a first layer of a polyolefin adhered to a major or surface of the core layer, a metal foil adhered to the first layer of polyolefin, a second layer of a polyolefin adhered to the metal foil, and a layer of water resistant liner board adhered to the second layer of polyolefin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,799, issued May 21, 1996, to Finestone et al., discloses a high-strength, breathable paper-plastic laminate sheeting useable as a protective barrier in the structures of homes and buildings. The laminate sheeting is composed of a paper ply cold-laminated by a water-based adhesive to a reinforcing ply formed by an oriented synthetic plastic film, such as polypropylene, that imparts exceptional tear and burst strength to the laminate sheeting, at least one surface of the film being corona-discharge treated to render it wettable and receptive to adhesives. The sheeting is foraminated throughout its entire surface to create a myriad of fine pores that render the sheeting permeable to moisture vapor, but effectively impermeable to liquids. For some applications, an additional paper ply, which may be a metalized paper, is cold-laminated to the other side of the film ply, and/or an additional film ply is cold-laminated to the other side of the paper ply.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,759, issued Mar. 17, 1992, to Simpson et al., discloses a laminated roofing material comprised of an aluminum foil top sheet laminated to a polyethylene film by an ionomer resin. After the sheets are bonded together, they are cooled to set the resin and a bitumen coating is applied to the exposed polyethylene sheet and covered with a release paper. The roofing material is applied over an underlayment to form a roof supported by conventional sheeting material.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,559, issued Nov. 6, 1973, to Barry Sidney Jackson, discloses a waterproof, pressure sensitive adhesive laminate in which a flexible plastics backing sheet is coated with a bituminous adhesive composition containing a minor proportion of rubber or thermoplastic polymer. The backing sheet is reinforced with a fabric, which is embedded in the sheet and provides substantial resistance to stretching.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,032, issued May 17, 1988, to B. J. Morrison, discloses an article of construction comprising a substrate coated with a multi-ply coating including an acrylic resin coating adhered to the surface of said substrate and underlying and adhered to an overlying acrylic resin coating, the acrylic resin of said underlying coating being a different acrylic resin than that of said underlying coating, the adhesive bond between said overlying and underlying coatings being stronger than if the bond were between two coatings formed from the same acrylic resin. Additionally disclosed are embodiments in which combusted coal residue is included in either the underlying or the overlying coating.
It would be an improvement to the prior art to provide an inexpensive, easily installed radiant barrier that may be utilized on new roofs, as well as reconstruction, and for other various construction purposes.